Two Thousand Photographers Test ACDSee Photo Editor

ACDSee Photo Editor has entered the final stage of Beta Testing, with over 2000 photographers involved in testing it. ACDSee Photo Editor 2008, will be an easy-to-use digital design and layout application created with avid photographers and scrapbookers in mind. The application comes with custom creative tools and exclusive designer templates. Look for a summer release.

Apple Release Their Aperture Plug-In SDK

Apple have released their free Imaging Plug-in Software Development Kit (SDK) for Aperture. It is now available through the Apple Developer Connection (ADC). Interested developers should visit the ADC website to download the SDK.

Xara Release Version 4 of Xara Xtreme and Xara Xtreme Pro

Xara Xtreme and Xtreme Pro have been updated to Version 4. Xara is one of the fastest and easiest creative tools to use. The flexibility of Xara Xtreme with its raster and vector capabilities is something worth trying. It is capable of drawing faster than pretty much any other package out ther. You can create 3D text, edit photos non destructively, create websites and even export flash animations. It also supports Photoshop plug-ins. Pop on over to the Xara Website to find out more and download a demo.

Adobe Releases Lightroom 1.41 and Camera Raw 4.4.1 Updates

Lightroom Product Manager Tom Hogarty announced the release of updates to the Photoshop Lightroom, Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in and DNG Converter to correct problems found in Lightroom 1.4 and Camera Raw 4.4. The revisions address several issues including:

Lightroom
Lightroom 1.4 incorrectly modified the EXIF time date field of images that had a metadata update applied. This incorrect modification does not appear in Lightroom or Bridge and is only viewable through third party EXIF tools. This error has been corrected in Lightroom 1.4.1 and all files in a Lightroom catalog that have been incorrectly modified will be corrected on their next metadata update. (Metadata can be updated by selecting the files in the Library grid view and choosing Command or CTRL + S to save and update the metadata.)

Olympus JPEG files could render incorrectly in Lightroom 1.4, displaying an artifact in the exported file.

Any conversion to DNG in Lightroom 1.4 (Windows Only) would cause the DNG file to become unreadable by Lightroom’s Develop Module or Camera Raw 4.4 in Photoshop. The issue has been corrected and files can be converted to DNG again in order to resolve the issue for existing files. Returning to the original native raw files is not necessary. The affected DNG files can be selected and converted again using the DNG Converter 4.4.1 available at www.adobe.com/dng/.

This process is not required but recommended to ensure that a correct validation value is stored within the DNG files.

Lightroom 1.4 provided degraded import performance relative to Lightroom 1.3.

Camera Raw
Camera Raw 4.4 incorrectly modified the EXIF time date field of images that were saved as TIFF or JPEG files from the Camera Raw dialog. This has been corrected in Camera Raw 4.4.1

Olympus JPEG files could render incorrectly in Camera Raw 4.4, displaying an artifact in the exported file.

The updates have been posted to the following locations:
Lightroom 1.4.1 - Mac - Win.
Camera Raw 4.4.1 - Mac - Win.

Digital Photography & Imaging Show 2008

The DPI show is a new event dedicated to digital photography and imaging. It is being held on June 26th & 27th at the Business Design Centre in Islington in North London.

The DPI show is designed to attract thousands of pro-photographers and agencies active in photojournalism, sports/action photography, portraiture, wedding and lifestyle photography, and those working in fashion and advertising, still life and macro. Industry leaders will come together to create a ‘Live Studio’, building a full-feature facility at the show with ‘celebrity’ photographers illustrating the facilities and capabilities of the studio.

A busy seminar programme will present 40-minute sessions on latest products and solutions so you can receive first-hand expert advice and tips from specialists in the technologies and processes, hear of case studies and then visit the exhibition area for hands-on experience.

Our conference programme will gather groups of speakers to look at improving workflow, at manipulating and storing images and at managing the demands of a modern photographic studio.

The show will feature stands from Industry leaders such as Adobe, Apple Solution Experts, Epson, HP, Hasselblad, Color Confidence, Extensis, A J Purdy, The SWPP, onOne and a whole lot more ... Many publications will also be represented, including Digital Photographer, Digital Arts, The BJP, Digital Camera and Macworld.

You can register for free at http://www.dpishow.com/

onOne Software Announces Plug-in Suite 4

onOne Software, Inc., announced the May release of their Plug-in Suite 4 software for Adobe Photoshop. Plug-In Suite 4 comprises of full versions of six essential software tools – Genuine Fractals 5 Print Pro, PhotoTools 1.0 Professional Edition, PhotoFrame 3.1 Professional Edition, Mask Pro 4.1, PhotoTune 2.2 and FocalPoint 1.0. The package should be available in early May to new users for $499.95, whereas existing users of Plug-in Suite versions 1, 2 or 3 can upgrade to Plug-In Suite 4 for only $199.95. For more information on Plug-In Suite 4, please visit onOne Software.

Adobe To Release CS4 64Bit Editions

Adobe have announced that they will be releasing their CS4 line in 64Bit Versions. They will not however be releasing the Mac OS X version in 64Bit until after the Windows Version. Where the 32 bit versions can generally only currently support 3-4 GB depending on the OS and application. After Effects supports up to 2 GB per processor on a multicore machine by assigning different processes to different cores. The 64-bit versions of Windows and Mac OS X 10.5 will potentially be able to access up to a theoretical limit of over 17 billion GB of RAM.

onOne Announce Free Liquid Resize Product Preview

onOne Software, Inc., announces today the availability of its Liquid Resize product preview. Available for immediate download at the products preview page. Their Liquid Resize software is a ground-breaking way to resize images using a technique known as "seam carving" to reduce the distortion that typically occurs when manipulating the aspect ratio of an image. The Technology is really interesting, check it out.

Adobe Release Lightroom 2.0 Beta

Adobe have made Version 2 of Lightroom available as a public beta. The beta is available as a 30 day tryout, for everyone who wants to try it, and even longer for registered users of Lightroom 1.x.
It is suggested that everyone read the Release Notes document before using it.

Beta Eligibility
Q: Who is eligible for the Lightroom 2.0 beta?
A: All Lightroom 1.0 customers. Lightroom 1.0 customers can download and install Lightroom 2.0 beta for use throughout the beta program
Q: What about customers new to Lightroom?
A: Anyone can download the Lightroom 2.0 beta and try it for 30 days
Q: How can new customers try the beta for the entire program?
A: An invitation program through labs.adobe.com allows Lightroom 1.0 customers to invite friends to try the beta beyond the 30 day trial until the beta expiration date
Q: When does the beta expire?
A: August 31, 2008

IMPORTANT NOTES, PLEASE READ
Primary Known Issues
Lightroom 2.0 beta will not upgrade Lightroom 1.x libraries. The beta is intended to be used for testing and feedback purposes. Lightroom 1.x and 2.0 beta libraries will be migrated to the finished version of Lightroom 2.0.
While data loss is not expected, this is a very early ‘beta’ quality build and you should always work on duplicates of files that are securely backed up.
Lightroom 2 beta will not overwrite or interfere with a machine that currently has Lightroom 1.3.1 installed.
Develop settings applied in Lightroom 2.0 beta are not guaranteed to transfer correctly to the final version of 2.0. This is particularly true for localized corrections.
The new Photoshop integration functionality is only available with Photoshop CS3 (10.0.1) and should only be used for testing purposes. Metadata associated with the original file may not carry over to the subsequent file saved from Photoshop
Additional known issues are listed in the release notes.

New Features

Library
Streamlined Library Layout
Smart Collections
Powerful Filter Bar to search and refine images
Suggested Keywords for simplified keywording
10k pixel size limit raised to 30k pixels
Output-based Collections

Multiple Monitors:
-Four flexible modes for an alternate window: Grid, Loupe, Compare, Survey(Check out the Live Loupe mode!)

Photoshop CS3 Integration:
Open files in Photoshop as a Smart Object
Select multiple images to merge as a Panorama
Merge multiple exposures into a single Photoshop HDR image
Load multiple files or virtual copies into Photoshop as separate layers in a single document.

Export Functionality:
Auto-add exported images to the Lightroom catalog
Auto Output Sharpening for images on export

Develop Module
Non-Destructive Localized Correction for dodging and burning specific areas of an image
Post Crop Vignette
Basic Panel Keyboard Shortcuts
Improved Auto Adjustment
Improved memory handling through 64-bit support on OS X 10.5 and Vista 64-bit.(Not limited to develop module)

Print Module
Picture Package for multi-page layouts
Print Module output directly to JPEG
Enhanced Print Sharpening based on PhotoKit Sharpener algorithms
16-bit Printing for Mac OS X 10.5

Additional Resources
Lightroom video tutorials by Julieanne Kost: Lightroom 2 beta Tutorial Part I and Lightroom 2 beta Tutorial Part III. (Part II is on the way)
Lightroom 2 beta preview by Ian Lyons
Lightroom Tasmania Adventure
Lightroom 2 beta review by Uwe Steinmueller at OutbackPhoto.com.
Lightroom 2 beta review for our French-speaking photographers
Photoshop Cafe provides a feature review and 1 hour training video.

Thanks to Tom Hogarty at Adobes Lightroom Journal for the info posted above.